#but damn I feel like I’m learning at a very rapid pace doing these scenes every day

[guppygiggles]

Tickletober prompt day 12: “Favorite Tickle Game.”

Love a game with high stakes~

[popculturebuffet]

Lilo and Stitch Crossovers: “Morpholomew” (American Dragon Long): Stop Trying to Make Am Drag a Thing (Commisson Done For WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people! And welcome to a brand new retrospective/story arc/thing from yours truly, comissoned directly by WeirdKev27. If you’d like to comission your own review or set of reviews like this one, it’s 5 bucks. Just contact me via my ask box or direct messages on this very blog or my discord technicolormuk#6550.

With Shadow Into Light in the books, Kev decided he wanted to comission something not duck related and a bit smaller as a buffer before the next big arc, ALL of three arcs from season 2 of Ducktales, and decided to go with something he suggested to be a while back as a possible future retrospective: The Lilo and Stitch Crossover episodes! 

That’s right for the next three weeks, with TWO reviews this week since I had a spot open up and Kev paid for this one in full and way in advance, we’ll be taking a trip to Hawaii to visit everyone’s faviorte little girl, her best friend/pet/killing machine as they try to find homes for his 625 cousins. 

I loved Lilo and Stitch when I was a kid: Disney admitely got their hooks in me on that one with their cool prequel comics in disney adventures. These comics set up the movie, showing Jumba creating Stitch and the events leading up to both getting captured. The movie did not disapoint with cool character designs, a drop dead gorgeous recreation of Hawaii, and a really heartfelt, heartbreaking and heartpumping story of loss, family, and ving rahmes voicing one of the few heroic child services workers i’ve seen in a medium, a refreshing change of pace. The film is a masterpiece and I really do need to watch it again sometime. 

Given the series was a huge hit and that thsi was before the big lull in the late 2000′s and early 2010′s where Disney refused to make any tv shows based on their movies, a series followed, given a lead in by the direct to video movie Stitch.

The movie set up the basic premise; 624 capsules containing Jumba’s previous experiments, cousins as Stitch calls them, ended up raining over Kauai, awakening when dropped into water or any other liquid. Lilo and Stitch, with help from Jumba, his live in boyfriend Pleakley, her tought but fair sister Nani, and her boyfriend David, who dosen’t show up as much as i’d like but is my boy so he gets a mention here. But anyways our heroes try to reform the various engines of distructoin who all have unique powers and find them their one place they truly belong. 

So yes the show was a Mons-type show clearly captalizing off pokemon.. but the slice of life setting as opposed to the shonen style of most shows following in pokemon’s wake, gave it it’s own unique feel: while our heroes did fight, it was more about shenanigans, adventures and what not with these unique creatures and the purpose is very heartflet: Lilo simply wants to give these guys the same kind of love and support she’s given Stitch and a chance to do good. 

Opposing them is Gantu, the shark bounty hunter from the first film who, now out of a job, is working for Dr. Hamstervile, an imprisoned sceintest and a character I really don’t like that much as he’s not funny or a genuine threat or both and feels like a waste of time. Thankfully he’s not the focus and Gantu is instead partnered with 625, my faviorite Lilo and Stitch character. 625, as the name suggests, is stitch’s immediate prototype.. but unlike Stitch is too lazy and peaceful to be a real threat and isn’t even really a villian despite being on Gantu’s side. He’s busy making samwitches, his calling to the point when he gets a name in the finale movie it’s naturally Ruben, and snarking at gantu. He’s sadly not in this one but hopefully it’s JUST this one. 

As you can tell I liked this show a LOT at the time. I haven’t watched it since, mostly because disney scarely replayed it after it’s run, but it was vibrant, fun and intresting and a nicely laidback and creative take. The fact I came into the franchise with the comics and thus 625, who was introduced there in fact, and had a hunger to know more about the other experiments certainly helped. It was great fun. 

But while I grew up with the show and the four shows it teamed up with, i’ve never seen these episodes before these reviews. I wondered why for years as I caught the tail end of the kim possible one and saw images ocasionally, but never saw them. 

Turns out it’s because in general Season 2 got screwed over. While Season 1 was pushed out the door fast and aired at a rapid pace Season 2.. was portioned out over several years, and the Recess crossover one, the last one aired and the last one i’ll be covering never even got to Disney channel, only airing on ABC kids, DIsney’s saturday morning block at the time I rarely watched. I did watch it’s predecessor one saturday morning though. Good stuff. 

Since I couldn’t find any making of stuff for why these episodes happened, my best guess is DIsney wanted some cross promotion, and the shows used were chosen because they were the most popular at the time and honestly all 4 represent some of disney’s best, with Recess being in heavy reruns at the time, hence i’ts conclusion despite the show being finished before Lilo And Stitch the movie came out, let alone the series. 

So yeah i’m taking this ride for the first time.. but I was happy to. While Kev pays for a lot of my work, I still have to accept the idea.. and this was a great one. It allows me to cover 5 amazing series and gage how much people would want to see reviews of said series on this blog in one fell swoop.

So to kick us off we have American Dragon: Jake Long, a series I waited forever to come to Disney + as I loved it at the time, badly need to rewatch it (Been busy ), and find it genuinely great: It’s a great teen superhero story about the magical protector of new york, with a charming lead, a great setting and horrifcally great villians in the violently racist magic creature hunting huntsclan.. and their top agent who happens to be jake’s love intrest Rose. It’s really excellent and i’m glad it’s now widely avaliable for all to see. I will say ahead that all four shows in this crossover arc are excellent, and were fine choices for this. 

So what happens when an action comedy about a hip hop teenage dragon meets a slice of life show about aliens? Find out under the cut. 

So we open at a fancy hotel where Lilo’s bringing lunch to her sister Nani when she runs into.. Keoni Jameson. 

The second I remembered this kid all the hate just came flooding back, coursing through my veigns. Just pure liquid hatred for this little perosnalitiless little punk. Keoni is Lilo’s crush and local “stupid white audience stand in”. He has no real personality other than “generic cool kid” and “likes skating”, and just sucks the air out of the room anytime he’s in an episode. Keoni is part of a recurring problem in cartoons across the ages, one that’s slowly going away: the bland love intrest. Intorducing a character whose only traits are being cool for the lead to fawn over with usually no intent of either getting the two togehter or just ending it. IT’s annoying, it was in a good chunk of my childhood, I wish it’d stop. I cannot tell you how many shows used this trope. There were exceptions, American Dragon Jake Long actually used it well by not only making Rose a fleshed out character..  but making her jake’s nemisis in their other lives, and thus making things increidbly difficult on both once the truth comes out, with Jake grappling with if he can trust her or not and Rose grappling with the slow relization eveyrthing she was taught her whole life was wrong.

And again I have seen GOOD storylines using this as a tool: Dipper and Wendy ended with her having been aware teh whole time, but simply not knowing how to let him down given the age gap, and Regular Show rebounded the best from it: it turned the stop and start relatoinshpi of Mordecai and Margret’s relationship into a character flaw for him, openly explored it.. and ended up having him work past it and actually date her for a bit. Before she moved away, he got an even better love interest, then they destoryed the relationship in the worst way posisble and I wil lbe getting to that at some point. Some point. 

So yeah even at the time it was done better, hindsight haas only made it worse and it made watching the first few minutes tough because I had to keep pasuing because I hate him so damn much. He just adds NOTHING to the show and is a blank yanwing void from which no good came out of and I was terrified he’d be in the rest of the episode. Thankfully while he drives the plot he’s only in this scene.. but it’s still one more scene than both 625 and Pleakly got. yeah both are missing, as is nani. 

I did uncover one fun fact that made things a bit easier though: The crew ALSO hated Keoni. No really. Disney forced the character on them as they wanted an audience surrogate, and this abomination is what popped out. They DID NOT want him here and likely only used him as mcuh as they did because Disney forced it on them. And Disney would NOT learn from this as Star Vs got saddled with Alphonso and Ferguson soley because of network mandate. The two aren’t TERRIBLE characters but they aren’t great and feel as tacked on as they were. And part of this does fall on the crew: you CAN twist a stupid mandate like this to work well: Joe Murray was asked to add “A female character with a hook”, as in some sort of dumb gimmick to Rocko. He used those words, meant to create a superfical girl power cardboard cutout.. and created the wonderful Dr. Hutchenson, a bright cheery doctor, the series best sidecharacter.. and someone with a hook hand. But I won’t go too hard on them: they probably didn’t have as much room to manuver and the fact Keoni was sitll being shoved into episodes in season 2 tells me they likely had a set number of episodes he had to show up. I’m suprised they didn’t demand they have characters ask “Where’s Keonie?” any time he wasn’t in an episode. He was unecessary and it comes across with a massive chunk of unforutnate implications: that they didn’t think a series with a mostly hawaiann cast would work, that they wanted at least one other “nice” white character to offset myrtle instead of having the only major white character be a bully and antagonist, and that they thought tehir mostly white audience coudln’t enjoy a series without a white character, which as someone who was in the target demo at the time, I call bullshit on. As I said I hated him then, I hate him now and his involvement is the worst aspect of this episode. 

So after Lilo fawns over him for a bit we find out this chonk of wood’s purpose in the episode: to set up the plot. There’s a massive Skate Competition coming to town with the prize being a really cool skateboard.  This plot point itself.. I don’t mind. Jake is a skater, it’s part of his character and one of the things he loves doing in what minsicule spare time he has. And while it was a common trope at the time having a character skateboard really dosen’t harm most works. We’ve gotten great characters like Jake, Jackie Lynn Thomas, Branwen and Ronnie Anne Santiago out of it, and it feels like natural parts of the character, and frankly An Extremley Goofy Movie wouldn’t be NEARLY as awesome without having skateboarding bizzarley attached to the plot via the college x-games. Granted somtimes you get Rocket Power out of the deal but that’s the price you pay for the good stuff. I only regret it’s involved because Keoni has to be there and I had to pause multiple times to get through his scene. He’s just a sampler platter of terrible decisions made in 2000′s cartoons and he irritates me more than this guy. 

And anyone whose read my Loud House reviews can tell you that is a high bar to clear. 

So naturally Lilo wants to enter the Hawiann X-Games to get the board for Keoni. Though I will give the writers credit for having Stitch voice their thoughts and the audiences thoughts by having him take Keoni’s picture and throw it in the garbage. Where he belongs. 

Lilo’s not great at it as they practice.. and said practice naturally ends up waking up a new experiment, 316.. who i’m just going to go ahead and call Morpholomew. Stitch eventually catches him though like many of the experiments he’s not actively malevelolent and is easy enough to get home. 

Jumba gets to his schitck of breaking down what the experiment of the week does: In this case Morpholomew is  a shapeshifter though he has a VERY intresting twist on those powers: while he can naturally morph himself into anything he’s seen or has a picture of, he can do the same to anyone he touches. It dosen’t effect their voices, but otherwise it’s a perfect recreation. 

So Lilo instead of finding him a home right away.. decides to wait until after the compettition because we need him for the plot. 

So at the Skateboard Competittion Lilo tries to enter, but finds she’s too young.. but since she has a picture of Keoni, which is a nice way to use her photo hobby from the movie for plot reasons and thus dosen’t feel like an ass pull. Why Keoni’s not in town to skate is as his dad left because it’d be too crowded.. even though the event is at the resort he owns. 

So while Lilo commits identtity theft, our guest star appears. He’s cool, he’s hot like a frozen son, he’s young and fast he’s the chosen one, people i’m not braggin, i’ts the American Dragon. Jake is here for two reasons: the first is that Grandpa Long got reports of magical creatures out in the open, so naturally they need to look into that. It’s a clever way to get him, along with Grandpa, Fu, Trixie and Spud, over to Hawaii. The Dragon Council would defintely be suspcious hearing about this, and my guess to why they hadn’t sent another dragon over is they simply dont’ have one on the islands. As for why the Huntsclan didn’t get involved in any way, it’s simply too public for them.  With the magical community in new york, they don’t have to worry about exposure because neither side wants it, so neither side can out the other. Here with a bunch of creatures out in the open it runs the risk of the Hunstclan being dragged into the light.. and given the populace dosne’t care about the “magical creatures” alongside them, it would make them look like the monsters they are. 

Spud and Trixie tagging along also makes sense besides “they needed them for the plot”: While they’d obviously want to come to Hawaii, the skate competition is likely Jake’s cover for why he’s there, as well as one for why it’s just him and grandpa going with a couple of his friends so they don’t have to deal with manuvering around jake’s dad. That sad them never TELLING jake’s Dad is it’s own can of worms as it feels cruel, made things harder for jake and there was no real reason not to. At worst he’d want Jake to stop for his own saftey but given ther’es an active threat in  the huntsclan for the first season and a half, NOT helping people would be the right thing and I feel he’s a sensible enough man to understand eventually. 

And it’s stuff like this that already makes this crossover really work for me: they don’t really have to strain to get Jake over there or tell the audience heavily, the blanks fill in themslves. Or I am but that’s because it’s my job and I love doin it. 

So everyone goes off to their corners; Jake to do a few practice runs, Foo Dog to bet on his friend because of course, Trixie and Spud to go to the beach (even though Spud’s terrified of sharks so I question why Trixie needs him for this), and in a delightfully adorable subplot, finds a lady to woo: local fruit stand vendoer and crankly old lady Mrs. Hasagawa. 

I am here for this subplot: While Grandpa not focusing on the mission is weird for him that’s the entire point.. and their just really cute together. He’s smitten with her entirely because he sees her chewing out one of the people running the contest for making her sign too small. And he performs one hell of a romantic gesture by, while everyone’s back is turned, using his dragon fire to make an add for her on the skate ramp itself, and they have a lovely montage of their time together.. which also weirdly includes grandpa using his dragon fire on stage inf ront of everyone which makes no sense for his charcter but is so cute and does feature david I really don’t care. The writers of Lilo and Stitch probably weren’t deeply familiar with the show and likely just wanted a fun gag. Could be wrong there but it’s cute. He continues to act grossly out of character by trying to avoid going home at the end.. but again I find it simply because he’s in love, they have genuine chemstiry and I like to think they stayed in touch and he retired out there at some point once Jake was old enough to handle things himself. This may not be a ship I expected to support going in but I will die for it going out. 

So back to the main plot, Lilo uses Keoni’s body to imitate him which... she’s only loosely called out on and realizes is bad by the end only because she gets stuck in another body. And that’s not even getting into the fact she BREAKS UP WITH KEONI’S GIRLFRIEND. Yes really.. she just does that to get her out of the way. She comes around and realizes she was wrong and tries to fix it which would be fine.. if hte episode didn’t try to cop it out by revealing “Oh she’s not his girlfriend, she’s just someone who keeps telling people that”. It just feels lazy and dumb and a way to keep Lilo’s crush on Keoni for reasons I DO. NOT. GET. But the identity theft is just brushed aside by everyone: Keoni never finds out, and Jake just brushes it off. The real issue is more her trying to bribe keoni into likng her which while something kids need to learn is not the only thing she did wrong here. It feels like they didn’t think all the implications out here and it hampers the episode

Speaking of which as Gantu captures Jake, he sees him transform into dragon mode and assumes he’s the experiment, Jake’s charactization is pretty shallow.  And why yes it DOES feel weird writing sentences about a character with the same name thank you for asking. I wasn’t expecting a deep character piece or anything: This is a guest spot, the writers here are not the same normal ones for American Dragon. That’s fine. The problem.. is that they clearly did not get Jake. Grandpa being partly out of character is half the joke, Trixie actually gets a really nice moment towards the end, and Spud.. is eh. But out of them Jake just feels like a basic character description: He likes hip hop, he likes skateboards, he calls himself Am Drag despite that sounding like a good name for a drag act but a terrible name to shorten your title, he fights.. that’s it. 

While jake is all of that in the main series, he’s also a kind young man who while sometimes irresponsible does the right thing when the chips are down.  He’s someone weighed down by a responsiblity he didn’t ask for, often makes his life more difficult and often finds himself in trouble because his mother and grandfather won’t bother to tell his dad he’s a dragon. Yes that part still bothers me, and I don’t see why we couldn’t just have a superhero show where both parents know. But regardless this just dosen’t feel like Jake , like they just watched the intro and that was it. Jake feels more like a plot device in his own crossover. 

That being said there is some good stuff: The minute Jake realizes some Sci Fi stuff is going on instead of hte normal magic stuff he tells him “The am drag’s show isn’t about sci fi” a nice meta bit and then breaks out. Meanwhile Lilo takes on his form.. and ends up stuck after badly botching her run again, as Gantu finds the real shapeshifter. 

We get the best stretch of the episode from here though: Lilo awkardly tries to play jake and like jake we get a nice meta nod to how diffrent their show is as she’s worried about his belief in magical creatures.. and is startled out of her charade when Foo Dog talks, a really nice bit especially since it’s tame compared to the weirdness he deals with. Spud and Trixie have questions... only for Jake to show up and his agressive behavior leads to the best bit of the episode: Jake Vs Stitch. The catlyst is understandable: jake has no idea why Lilo’s taken his identity and Sttich is just protecting his best friend from harm. The animation is fluid, the fight is fun and quick and uses both’s powers stellarl. Whle “two heroes get into a misunderstanding and then fight” is a well worn cliche at this point, it’s moments like this that show why: you get to see two heroes who in this case never have interacted before or sense, duke it out, why each is special and it’s fun to watch. 

Lilo breaks it up, and admits to the whole thing.. including the whole give Keani the board stuff. While Jake and Spud, being awkard with girls and a loveable moron don’t see the problem with that Trixie gets a moment to shine. As far as I can remember she really didn’t get much on the show proper so it was a nice suprise to see her mentor lilo her, telling her trying to give someone gifts to love you is not okay, she should just be herself all that good stuff. It’s a nice character stuff and tha’ts the kind of character interaction this episode needed more of. 

With the misunderstandings washed away our heroes team up and storm gantu’s ship leading to another great sequence as Stitch rides on Jake’s back while the two keep him busy and Lilo gets turned back, Trixie complimenting her dress “Thanks I have 10 just like it at home”. It’s such a sweet and genuine moment” They head back out and gantu semeingly grabs morpholmew from where they hide.. only to find out when he gets back it’s spud, our adorable little blob monster transforming Gantu into a bunny and our heroes leaving. How does Gantu get out of being a bunny?

But it’s a nice enough gag. So we end the episode. We get another nice gag as grandpa had himself and his lady transformed to try and avoid going home, and Jake is fine with having lost out on the board what matters is he made a friend. Sadly we did not get a followup in ADJL., but spud does name our experiment, Morpholomew. 

We end on Morph getting his home: a costume shop where he gets paid in fried chicken, he was shown to enjoy it throughtout the episode and changes people into things. It’s a nice little button to the episode and one of the funnest parts of the show was figuring out where the experiment would end up at the end. 

Final Thoughts:

This episode is a really mixed bag. There is some good character interactions, two tremendous fight scens and Trixie gets a chance to shine for once if only for a scene or two, and the clashing genres end up making for some great jokes> The shows do go well together as while Lilo and Stitch is more laid back both have slice of life elements. And hasgawa X Grandpa is just oto cute for words. 

The episode is held back by Jake and Lilo’s lackluster characterizatons: Jake is simply the theme song as a character, which in theory is awesome because that theme song slaps but in practice is pretty lame, and Lilo is selfish and irresponsible even for her in a way that dosen’t feel at all convincing. It drags down what’s otherwise a fun crossover and Morpholomew is truly a unique and wonderful experiment. Still if you like either show it’s worth a watch even if you have to suffer through Keoni for it. It’s worth it.. I just wish it was better and hopefully the next 3 will keep the good parts but take out the bad. Granted this was produced last so I could be wrong, but here’s hoping.  Oh this episode also featured Miranda Cosgrove as the girl who claims to be Keoni’s girlfriend. This is also Keoni’s last episode meaning I do NOT have to worry about accidently running into him. Thank fucking christ. 

Next Time On American Dragon Jake Long: Jake’s dad drags him and his friends on a camping trip and Jake ends up encountering the Jersey Devil. Now all they need is a sexy lady devil cake to lure it out... what it worked for the Cake Boss. And yes that happened, Allison Pregler did an episode on that episode. Check it out. 

Next Time On Lilo and Stitch Crossovers: It’s the family, the family, proud familllyyy as the Prouds take a vacation at Peakly and Jumbas bed but not breakfast and we get some kind of squirrel demon for our experiment of the week. We also get Wizard Kelly appearing...

See you at the next rainbow. 

[un-piorthos-et-tous-pour-un]

The thrilling adventures of a PA- Chapter Six: Better late than never. (Adam Sackler x Reader)

[quick note here: i’ve been meaning to finish that one sooner but things got overly complicated for me and I couldn’t really write as much as I wanted. Got a bit frustrated because I had so many new ideas for prompts & stuff but no time to write but my dear friends @aloneandsleepless reminded me it’s not about how much you write that counts so I wanted to thank her for keeping me in check there ;) Here’s the nex chapter, still got a few in store for this one, just hope you’ll still like it ‘till then.] After your little trip downhill, you pulled yourself up again (thanks to a long conversation over the phine with your mom) & got back on your feet quickly, regaining your usually warmer demeanour at work. And this despite the fact that Adam grew more and more distant as you grew closer to Dominic. It was hard to get over him, you’re not gonna lie but you managed to at least accept your fate as being,a distraction for him. getting to know Dom helped too. As you guessed, you two have pretty similar backgrounds growing up. He’s a single child, raised in a loving household, his parents both working hard to raise him good & you liked the same things, both of you bookworms for most of your childhood (& still today to be fair). He’s fun to be around, has a good sense of humor and seems genuinelyto be a nice guy. All the more reasons for you to really give it a try, after all you deserve to be with someone who wants to be around you.

It’s been almost 2 months now since Adam kissed you so you finally agreed to go on a date with Dominic as you’re over that ordeal. Or at least you think you are. You’re a little giddy when yo arrive at the studios this morning, looking forward to it even if you wonder if everything will be ok because it might change your relation with him if all goes wrong. Which given your track record is a real possibility. You brought some clothes with you since you’re not going back home after work and put them in your locker until tonight. Then you set off to the canteen in order to get coffee for Adam & you. He starts early today so you know he’ll need it in order to wake up fully. A week ago that simple fact would’ve put you in shambles but now you simply get on with it. It’s just a job, you get things done and that’s it. No more fraternizing with actors, you’ve learned your lesson. or so you thought.When you knock on his door, you can hear his footsteps approaching & judging by the sound of it, as you expected, he’s not really awake & as usual, that look makes your heart skip a beat. - ”That should help you, careful it’s very hot”, you mention to him as you hand him the cup. - ”Doubt it but thanks”, he mutters, voice still hoarse, sending a little chill down your spine. Why must he have so much pull over you, damn him you think as you try your best to keep your composed face. - “You’re expected in the make up trailer in 40 minutes, do you think it’ll be enough ?”, you ask gently, as he steps back into his bedroom, cup in his hand? He mumbles something that sounds like an agreement and you let him change, standing by the table, going through your phone to avoid the temptation of looking over there while he’s undressed. A few moments later, he’s coming back, dressed appropriately & you both exit the trailer silently. You’re not sure if he’s still not fully awaked now to have a conversation or if he’s just not talking to you anymore outside of work related topics but to be honest, it doesn’t make a difference anymore. You’re used to it and it’s better that way, it saves you both the time & energy of pretending everything’s okay since there’s nobody around for the time being. Once you’re at the trailer, you let him get inside and announce you’ll pick him back when the make up team will be done. - “So you’re abandonning me ?”, he throws at you as you’re leaving. - “You’re a big boy, you’ll survive just fine”, you retort without looking back, knowing it’s just another trick to mess with you but you’re not having any of this anymore. He had his chance & he blew it, you should let him suffer the consequences. You make your way to the catering tent and grab another coffee but it’s for Shirley as you’re supposed to meet up with her in a few minutes when she’d have dropped off her actor to his location. It has become a sort of habbit between you PA’s to do that kind of stuff, to make time go a little faster when you have to wait up for your ‘‘bosses”“. You chat of your evening a bit but of course, rapidely she asks you how you feel for your date. Confessing that you’re nervous, you discuss for a good 20 minutes about what could happend or not, what you should avoid to say (you tend to overshare when you’re uncomfortable) and she encourages you to simply enjoy the night. A sound advice but will you be able to follow it once you’ll be there tonight ? That’s the question. You part when your break is over and get back to your daily routine, running errands & walk Adam from one place to another, without sharing more thant a few words here & there. So when you leave him at this trailer, your day is over as far as work is concerned and you head to the lockers, mind already focused on what’s to come. You hope that what you picked up for the occasion isn’t too simple or too plain as you don’t know where you’ll be going. It’s supposed to be a date after all, you need to dress up a little. Checking nobody’s in there in order to change, you open your locker and trade your shirt for a silky blouse. You’re dealing with the last button as well as getting your hair out of the collar when you hear the door behind you. But it’s not another Pa who shows up as you thought, no. It’s Adam and he looks out of breath. - “You’re not supposed to be here!”, you tell him as you turn back to your locker, reaching for your bag to get your make up. - “Don’t go”, he blurts out without any other form of introduction. - “I’m done for the day, if you need something you can order it”, you respond without looking at him. He shakes his head as he gets closer. - “I didn’t mea-..; Don’t go to your date”, he says almost pleading and you stop moving on the spot. There’s a few secondes of deafening silence before you finally look at him. - “You’re un-fucking-believable... Almost 2 months without saying a single word after you kissed me & now that I’m getting over it, you burst in and ask me to bail on him just because you ask me ?”, you huff, still stunned by his cockyness. “Why do you even care ? You’ve clearly showed it all this time that you don’t and you can have anyone you want, so why are you doing that ?”, you ask, starting to lose your temper. - “isn’t it obvious ?”, he dares say like it was, looking at you as if you were able to read his mind or something & it angers you even more. - “No! No, it’s fucking not!”, you roar, clsing your locker’s door in a sweep motion before you turn to face him (which is somewhat ironic since there’s a good 6 inches gap between the 2 of them, given your height difference).”Out of nowhere you kiss me and then you act like nothing happened and now that you realize I’m slipping away, suddenly you think you can do that ? Well I’ve got some bad news for you”, you spit out, blood boiling inside of you. “You had your chance and you blew it. So why are you doing this to me ? Is it funny for you ? Does it make you feel better to mess with me like that ? Answer me!”. But it’s not words he’s throwing your way as an answer, nope, it’s his lips as he takes your face in his hands. Your first thought is to step back. As you’ve said, he had his chance but your body’s not responding anymore and you give in. You can feel his breath on your skin, feel the warmth of his hands and the power of his grip on your neck as one of his hands lands there as you’re still kissing, your hands unconsciously grasping the hem of his shirt. You don’t know how long it’s been now but you’re brought back to reality when the door opens again and you finally part from him, short of breath and flustered. The person catches the scene and gets back out without saying anything, offering you the chance to regain your senses just enough to take a step back from Adam. - “Ok... that’s a good point but it still doesn’t answers my question”, you mumble as you’re still catching your breath, your hand running over your lips swiftly. - “Can we talk about that somewhere else ?”, he asks, his gaze focused on you & you can read the plea in his eyes. - “I’ll text you my address, meet me there in an hour”, you sigh heavily, knowing what you’ll have to do before you can have that conversation with him. “There’s something I need to do first”, you add  he nods, knowing all too well what you’re talking about. You both stay silent, unsure what to say or do but you tell him he can go and you leave the locker a few seconds behind him, heading to the studio’s entrance where you said you’d meet Dominic. When he sees you, he can sense something’s up and you hate yourself for what’s following. He didn’t deserve this and as you walk home after you both part ways, your guilt’s eating at your stomach for most of the journey. Once you’re in your appartment, you go straight to the bathroom and wash your face with some water & look at yourself in the mirror. What was wrong with you, you kept asking yourself, before you would never have done anything like that but there was just something about Adam that made you falter when he looked at you like he did in the locker room. A long sigh escapes your lips and you jump a little when your phone vibrates in your pocket. He’s in front of the building. You give him the code to pass the main door  you pace for a few seconds in your living room before his knocks resonates on the door. One last huff to collect yourself and you open the door. - “Come in”, you invite him as you step to the side to let him get inside. - “Thanks”, he says, hands in his vest and he scans your place for a few seconds before turning to face you. “How didi it go ?”, he asks and you just shrug. - “What do you think ? He was pissed & he had the right to be”, you simply answer, not really wanting to go into the details of that confrontation. “Do you want something ? I was about to make some coffee”, you mention as you walk towards your kitchen. - “No thanks, wouldn’t do me any good at this point”, he comments and you raise a brow but since you’ve got your back turned on him, he can’t see it. The only sound you can hear is your cofee machine for now and none of you say a single word. You grad your mug and turn around, to find him eyes fixed on you. - “So... I’m still waiting for you to answer my question...”, you point out calmly, bringing the mug to your lips, taking a sip in hopes this will help you go through that conversation more easily. - “I fucked up”, he says running a hand in his hair while sighing deeply. “I know I fucked up but I didn’t know what to do”, he adds, fidgeting on the spot. You give him a look that says he needs to elaborate because you don’t know what eaxctly he’s talking about; “i realized I was falling for you and it freaked me out because I didn’t want to screw what we had going on ‘cause the last two times I felt like this for someone, it blew in my face big time”. You can feel it’s hard for him to talk about that so you stay silent and try to encourage him with a nod. “They had problems on their own & I’m not exactly a pinnacle of stability myself so I freaked out because I didn’t want to hurt you with all that crap. Which I ended up doing anyway, acting like a 12 year old worked up by his hormones”, he lets out in a hurry & you can almost feel the weight coming off of his shoulders from saying it out loud. - “ And you couldn’t just- don’t take this the wrong way but... talk to me about that ? I wasn’t going to yell or anything if I had any inkling of all that from the start, instead of feeling I was being played with”, you explain to him, eyes locked with his. You put your mug aside and walk up to him. “It’s sweet that you wanted to protect me like this but if you really want whatever this is going to be to work out, you’ll have to talk to me, okay ?”, you say as your hand slowly reaches his cheek and he almost freezes at the touch at first, & it pains you to see that what happend with his exes must have been something else entirely if he’s so afraid of making a mistake with you. - “I’m sorry I fucked up”, he repeats, this time leaning in your hand a bit, guilt visible in his eyes & you smile softly to him. - “It’s okay now, stop thinking about it”, you reassure him and you stare at each other for a couple of seconds. You can see so much going on in those eyes... But yours close for now as he bends over slowly and captures your lips tenderly. This kiss is different, gentle & less needy but you can feel the message it’s supposed to convey. He’s not playing with you anymore, this is real. Which makes you step back after a few moments, even though you’d stay that way for quite some times. “Not that this wasn’t enjoyable but we still have some things to sort out first...”, you mention before your gaze rises up to meet his again & he nods in agreement. The both of you settle on your couch, sitting so that you somehow face each other and start talking. First you question him about what exactly happened with his ex-girlfriends and boy, no wonder he was so unsure of himself after what he wen through. Between Hannah’s selfish & childish behaviour & Jenna’s destructive habbits, it’s a miracle he even allows himself to love again so soon. You know he’s got issues on his own but you understand now why he acted the way he did. He keeps talking then, letting out what he kept inside for too long you guess & you just listen to him (probably another change for him). The more you learn and the more you’re relieved to see that your guts didn’t lie to you when you felt it fall for him in the early moments. You can almost see his mind getting lighter as time goes by, so much so that, in the end, you only stop talking around midnight as you both start to feel the length of the day. He asks if he can crash you couch for the night and you tell him he can join you in your bed. It’s big enough enough for the both of you after all and it wasn’t as if something was gonna happen tonight. You’re both too exhausted by now, physically & mentally for any other activity you usually can do in a bed with someone you fancy. You lend him some old clothes what could fit him and change while he’s doing the same in your bathroom. Alarm set for the next morning, you wish him good night & he leans in slowly, kissing you softly; making you smile against his lips as you let your hand rest on his cheek for a few seconds. Your eyes remain closed after that, sleep coming swiftly to snatch you, unaware that Adam spends a couple of minutes staring at you before he drifts off too, a small grin showing on his face...

[mrsbenedictbridgerton]

The Shark

My first writing of any kind in like - years. 2K words of me playing with the toys I put away so long ago and missed.

Card shark Killian Jones has taken Mills Casino for a sweet half a million. So they send in the best woman for the job of bringing him down. But when sparks fly, can either of them keep a cool head?

Ao3

White teeth bit down upon blood red lips. Jade green eyes were framed by brows drawn into a straight line. The fingers of her free hand, the one not holding a fan of cards, drummed lightly against the emerald green baize of the card table. 

Killian Jones resisted the urge to smile. Such tells were clearly those of a novice, one not used to the high stakes of Mills Casino and certainly not the cordoned-off area in which they now played, one step before the high stakes section which sat behind a glossy back door behind her. He eyed the stack of golden chips that lay beside the tiny purse she had placed down when she sat, her long legs swivelling around the short stool, revealing the short hem of her red dress. Not short of coin, at least. He hid a smirk, this time by peeling off the black leather jacket he wore. 

The lass with the golden hair nodded, taking another card into her hand. He watched her brow wrinkle for a second. Bust. Then her eyes raised, meeting his cool blue ones, a flash of electricity racing through his veins. He took a deep breath. Aye, she was gorgeous, but so was he. Clearly he had been too long without company in his bed if only a glance from an attractive woman sent waves of heat through his body, his groin tightening and then thickening in response. Fuck. He frowned and concentrated on his cards.

This was child’s play, she thought, as she watched the dealer take her cards and her chips. Pretending to be bad at Blackjack, looking like a beginner, losing a few- hundred - dollars (expensed, naturally): piece of cake. If she were to be truly honest, the accent threw her. She knew he was British and had been prepared for the queen’s English. But the honey smooth timbre of his foreign tones had threaded straight through her the first time he’d spoken.

She schooled her features in the innocent mask she had practised that afternoon. But ignoring him, well, that had been a little harder. She’d seen a picture, of course. Mills Casino had tabs on all its high rollers, especially when they took the house for a cool half million only a week ago. Actually, Emma had anticipated having to work a little harder to track him down. Surely, he wouldn’t return to the scene of his crime so soon. But the card counting crook had. Maybe he was arrogant. He certainly looked arrogant. All dressed in black, fingers covered in silver rings, shirt unbuttoned to show an almost unseemly amount of chest hair. But that wasn’t just it. There was something there. It was magnetism. Something that didn’t come across in a security image or a copy of his ID. He radiated confidence and… heat. Even from across the table she’d had to thank her great foundation for the hiding the blush she felt when their eyes met and she saw their deep blue.

And blushing was not her. Not Emma Swan, hard ass, ex con, best damn bail bonds person on the east coast.

She signalled to the waitress and ordered a Manhattan. She didn’t often drink on the job, but this was medicinal. She needed to think straight. To relax.

Her lips caressed the rim of the glass. Images of more enjoyable uses for that mouth taunted him every time he looked in her direction. He should stop looking. He was here to work. Almost a week’s break - in honour of the nice payday he had won last week - had been unheard of time for him until now. Routine was important. Focus was essential. Mistakes - fatal. 

Tonight was for taking it easy. Perhaps it was brazen to show his face again, at least so soon. But he was almost certain his activities had gone undetected. That said he had done nothing illegal… more frowned upon. Frowned upon with fists. By casino security. He flinched briefly as he remembered his first foray into the depths that department. He’d had a swollen lip and black eye for a week. And he’d learned a valuable lesson.

She ran her finger tips along her clavicle. Her long wavy hair had fallen over her shoulder, sweeping along the low neckline of her dress, the shade of her cleavage drawing his eyes. 

Bloody hell. What was it about her? He felt… drunk. Even though his two fingers of rum had remained untouched since he sat down. The cards were turned and he lost. Again. Three hands in a row, his count had been obliterated by blonde hair and long legs. 

Enough.

He picked up his glass and downed the contents in one go. He nodded to the dealer and tossed him a couple of chips before picking up his jacket and heading for the exit.

What the fuck?

She racked her mind for the file she had built up on him.

Killian Jones never, never, left a table before he had at least doubled up. And he never left the casino floor before 3am. She glanced at her watch. It was just after midnight.

She had to get him tonight. Tomorrow, he could be gone. This was the first sign of him in days. She could just call out regular security to stop him, but Regina Mills valued discretion above all else. She did not want even a whiff of a scene. Which was why her services had been needed.

A second later, she was following him, making rapid little steps in her too-high heels as she headed for the VIP exit that meant high rollers didn’t have to walk the whole casino floor to get to their hotel room - or back onto the street.

She nodded at Tiny, the tall, bearded security officer who held open the door for her, as she made her pursuit. But she had only made a few paces along the dimly lit corridor before she felt a hand upon her wrist. A warm, strong hand. It was him, he’d been waiting where corridor intersected with another, stepping out to block her way as she halted in shock.

She thought he had blue eyes? No, they were sapphire. Dazzling sapphire. Hot, glittering sapphire.

This was the moment when she should have protested, men did not grab her without hearing a piece of her mind. Instead, she shook her arm free and stepped back.

Killian enjoyed watching her expression change - from shock to curiosity to idignance. If he said he wasn’t used to the way women reacted to him, well, he’d be a liar. And a liar he was not. Bending the truth however... 

“Can I help?” he asked, rubbing his fingertips across his lips.

She looked momentarily stunned as if she did not know what to say. But she had followed him. He’d watched out the corner of his eye as she had seen him leave. Things were getting interesting. He liked interesting.

“Are you lost, love?” he asked, caressing the endearment with his tongue, taking a step closer and enjoying her flush.

Her shoulders straightened and she smiled. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

Interesting. Well then…

He reached out and cupped her cheek. “You blush when you’re winning.”

“I do not-” she protested.

His land moved lower and skimmed across the exposed skin of her chest. “Here,” he added.

He could feel the racing of her heart as his fingers moved. His own pulse answered with a similar beat. By God, she was magnificent.

This was not going according to plan, she thought, as her skin burned from his touch. The cuffs should be on already. He should have been dragged down to the security room by now. Instead she was staring, her mouth a little open, her gaze fixed upon his stubble coated cheek which his knuckles has just passed over. Would those little hairs be hard and rough, or soft? She held out her hand and touched it. Soft, she thought, kissable.

Clearly there was some mutuality in that thought. His gaze dropped to her lips. His free hand found her waist and drew her closer. Then, his mouth was upon hers.

Soft and warm and strong. He tasted like spiced rum. His musky cologne mixed with the smell of the expensive leather jacket he wore. She sank into his kiss, letting her mind block out all the (very good) reasons that this was a very, very bad idea. Convincing herself it was just a kiss as her fingers slotted into his hair and he turned her, pressing her back against the flocked wallpaper of the corridor wall, sliding his thigh between hers. His heavy arousal pressed against her hip and she ground against it. Revelling in the feeling of power it gave - well, the illusion at least.

If the urge to pull up her skirts and take her right there had been even a little stronger, he would not have been able to resist. But Killian Jones was nothing if not a gentleman and even for him, taking a lass up against the wall in a public corridor would be a faux pax. He didn’t even know her name, and such information was a bare minimum requirement for his bed partners, or not bed in this case. He let his hands caress her waist and the delicious curve of her hips, drawing under her buttocks and pulling her tighter against him, torturing himself with the sensation of bodies entwined save for a few layers of infernal clothing. He wanted her. God, he needed her. The ache in his blood since she’d first appeared was reaching fever pitch.

He moved his lips to her neck, nibbling down the soft skin, allowing his lust to cool a moment.

“Do you have a name, love?”

Name. Yes, she had a name.

The question had cracked the spell she was under. Not broken it, she still felt heady with desire and something a little stronger than lust. But her name... It was at stake. This rogue, this scoundrel, with the silken tongue and gorgeous accent was her mark. She laid her head back against the wall, took a deep breath and tried to clear her head and ignore the sensation his lips were making upon her neck.

“Yeah, I do. Swan. Emma Swan,” and with one hand she reached into her purse and pulled out the cuffs she had brought. “Mill’s Security.”

He froze, his lips pulling away from her skin as the words sunk in.

“Ah,” he sighed. He jerked, ready to make a move. But, she was quicker. In a few quick moves, she had his face pressed where she had been, his hands behind him and she was fastening the cuffs. He didn’t struggle, which at first gave her pause, until she swung him around and saw the arrogant smile on his lips.

“Well lass, if that’s what you’re into, you just had to ask.”

She rolled her eyes, “Watch it, buddy.”

“Indeed I shall,” he replied, his eyes travelling down her skimpy red dress.

She pushed him ahead of her along the corridor.

Well, this was a turn for the books. Never had he been bested in such a manner. It felt oddly amusing. Perhaps more so if he wasn’t still feeling somewhat amourous, his body protesting against the abbreviation of the enjoyable activities. He liked this woman, this Swan. The name suited her. Graceful, elegant, strong. No one messed with a swan; powerful buggers they were if you got too close. 

Well then.

He let her steer him along the corridor, taking a left before the exit, stopping at a large unmarked door. She punched a code into the security pad beside it and pushed the door open. Inside, there was a table with a chair on each side and little else to speak of. 

She nudged him to sit.

“So, Swan, not you have me all to yourself, what now?”

She might have rolled her eyes at his question but she couldn't hide the blush. “Puh-lease, you are far too into yourself.”

“Merely an avid observer of womankind.”

She licked her lips. “You sit, I make a call, I get paid and you…” She let the words hang in the air before shrugging. “Well, that’s not my area.”

He chuckled, noting the interesting shiver of disappointment that rippled down his spine. “Tis a pity.”

“Yeah,” she  hummed, letting her eyes linger on him for a moment as she reached for the door handle. She squared her shoulders. “Sit tight, revenue protection have a few things they want to talk to you about.”

One last time, she met his eyes. He fancied he saw regret. 

Then the door closed.

She made the call from the courtesy phone along the hall, cell service being patchy at best in the depths of the casino. Now all she had to do was wait, make the handover and then head home for a hot bath and a large glass of pinot. Or two.

Her skin began to rapidly cool as the fever of those moments together faded into memory. God he could kiss. And his hands… and… She flushed as she revisited the sensations. She’s almost lost herself in the embrace. If it had gone on a moment or two more-

The back of her hand pressed against her mouth. He was a fraud, a conman, a manipulator. Making people feel things was what he did. It meant nothing. Even if it had been so long since she had felt anything beyond the basic mechanics attraction. It had just been to long. That was it. 

She tapped her foot impatiently. They should be here in a moment. She should check on him. 

Hurrying back to the room, she stilled her breathing before entering the code to open it. She would just check. Make sure he was… well, something. The door opened and she peered inside. The handcuffs were on the floor, a corner of the carpet pulled away to reveal a small trap door. More importantly, there was no Killian Jones.

Mother fucker!

Brushing himself off, Killian made his way out of the underground parking lot. The cuff key he always carried was tucked away in his vest pocket. He made a mental note to send Tiny a bonus, those details about the service shafts has come in very useful.

If he felt regret as he joined the busy mele outside the casino, he pushed it away. She was just another woman, this swan. Nothing to concern himself over.

And if he paused at the next sight of blonde hair and red fabric, well, that was another matter.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

UO: i think Dean was more mature in the seven first five seasons of SPN. I don't say it's OOC of him but it's not a good evolution. Even John managed to do better.

I agree. In the beginning, Dean showed a willingness to hold himself accountable and to take responsibility and recognized his faults and did try to learn from his mistakes. For about the first seven seasons, Dean as a character was progressing at a very organic pace. I may not have agreed with everything he said or did within the first seven seasons but as a character arc, it was progressing at a very smooth pace. He was beginning to understand himself, theworld, his place in the world and working through his issues. But starting from season 8 onwards is when I feel like his character arc was starting to reach a stale-mate with the writing. It was at this time-period when the writers were facing the issue of possibly this show not really having an expiration date. They had no real way of seeing the end and if you don’t have a plan for when the story is to end, you can get stuck. I’m sure the writers have always had an endgame for Dean in mind but without knowing when they were going to be given the greenlight for that endgame, they’re just kind of stuck wallowing with him as a character in the middle. And me personally, I don’t find Dean’s character arc to be all that complicated or complex, after season seven, there really wasn’t that much left to arc. But since the higher-ups kept on telling the writers to keep on writing, they were kind of stuck and Dean just kind of stagnated. Like you said, nothing he does is OOC it’s just not a great evolution for his character so this also can be seen as bad writing too. I mean, if you’re hinging Dean’s entire development based on one character arc, you’re basically setting yourself up for failure. A character’s development is based around multiple character arcs that deal with a variety of issues. We’ve seen Sam and Cas deal with a variety of issues that’s lead to their character development and character growth but Dean, for the most part, just seems to focus on the same basic thing (the abuse he suffered). So when we get the things that we’ve been getting such as what we got in Season 14, it’s like, “I understand why Dean would behave this way” because unfortunately, it is consistent for his character arc. And that’s kind of the problem. It’s consistent for him as a character but it’s been going on for so long that I just can’t really excuse it. His anger that leads to these very childish tantrums where he throws things around and says very hurtful things to the people he supposedly loves, whereas maybe you can understand that if you’re someone in your 20s and are still relatively new to adult-hood and very much still have some of your teenager tendencies intact but since Dean is now in his 40s it’s like, “okay, when is he going to learn that this is not acceptable behavior? This is not how people deal with conflict.” Like, when I watched the “you’re dead to me” scene or the absolutely sacrilegious breaking of the guitar, it was so textbook Dean to me. I watch these episodes while I’m on my lunchbreak and I have my headphones in while watching the episode on my phone and when I watched those scenes I knew instinctively too turn down the volume because, “okay, this is escalating, okay, we’re nearing the part we’re Dean’s going to start throwing shit because that’s what he always does in these conflicts.” It’s so textbook that I can legitimately time when Dean’s temper outbursts are going to happen. And the positive police can excuse Dean all they want but these outbursts of anger are not okay and when you look at Cas and Sam’s expressions, particularly in the “you’re dead to me” scene, they look frightened. Someone who supposedly loves them is making them afraid. But it’s never brought to any sort of self-reflective attention. Dean never reflects on this behavior and considers maybe this isn’t okay. I mean, let’s not forget that in Season 13, Dean

legitimately kidnapped Kaia, a scared teenage girl at gunpoint, and coerced her

to help them and this ultimately lead to her death. When dark!Kaia brings it

up, people, like always, are quick to pat Dean on the shoulder and say, “don’t

worry about it, you’re fine, this is you and that’s okay.” Where when Sam or

Cas do bad things, they’re spending multiple seasons trying to make up for it. And

I’m just saying, that if I was hanging out with the Winchesters and Dean got so

angry about something that he just needed to break something and he chose to invoke

that anger on my acoustic guitar, he would’ve found my fist colliding with his

face, if he wants to break shit when he’s angry, then I’m going to avenge my

guitar by doing damage to his face (or at least try to anyway) and then I would

demand he buy me a new guitar. Here in the real world, you break someone’s guitar, you’re expected to replace it. Good quality acoustic guitars aren’t cheap and

also, Dean, show some damn respect to music, geez.

At this point, I’m sick of people defending Dean’s behavior

with him having underwent so much trauma and that it’s perfectly natural for

him to react the way he does. While I certainly agree that he has gone through

a significant amount of trauma and abuse, that doesn’t excuse him from abusing

others and treating the people he loves badly. Eventually, we have to ask

ourselves, when is Dean finally going to work through the abuse? I mean, I’m

sure it’ll happen in season 15, but regardless, that is incredibly too long.

And John showed some real character growth particularly with the 300th episode in mind. But even as far as season 1 by itself is concerned, he did show a capacity to work through issues. Something that Dean has been lacking in the latter half of this show. Now granted, the show was always going to spend less time with John so his character arc moved at a much more rapid pace because of that. But even so, my original point still stands that you probably shouldn’t revolve a character’s entire emotional development based on one character arc. Individuals are complicated, there’s no one, all-defining cause for how we behave, it’s an amalgamation of different things and for story-telling purposes, you should be diving into all of those different things, not just focusing on one thing. 

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: Fixing You Cut Scene! Extended Dr. Fixxler’s Shop

Hi all! I’m making good progress on Chapter 8 of “Fixing You” -- it’s a LOT shorter than Chapter 7, so you’ll definitely be seeing it next week. However, I thought I’d share something else with you today -- some cut content! Most of the editing I’ve been doing while working on “Fixing You” has been cutting out bits of unnecessary fluff, or chopping short scenes and conversations that go on waaaay too long. (Chapter 7 actually had a TON cut out of it to avoid the characters telling each other everything you guys have already seen in the fics. Yes, that damn chapter was originally even longer.) And while this is all for the good, it does mean that occasionally I lose moments I like.

Such as today’s scene, which was part of an earlier draft of Chapter 3 with Victor and Alice in Fixxler’s shop. Originally, Alice’s question to Fixxler about him having the ability to move between the Lands of the Living and the Dead led to a much longer scene where Fixxler provided a lot more explanation on how the spell worked, and how magic works in this world in general. There was also what I thought was a fun bit of business with the group searching the shop for special glasses that let you see magical auras. When it came time for the next round of editing, though, I realized the scene really slowed the pacing down, and that Fixxler would know why Alice would be so interested in Slip Through The Veil without her needing to spell it out so explicitly. So I cut out this scene and provided pared-down versions of some of the exposition he gives here in a different spot in the chapter. I still like the bit though, soo -- here, to tide you over until next week. Hope you enjoy! For context, the starting line in italics is from the actual Chapter 3 and shows where the scene would have landed.

Alice froze. "Wait – let's rewind the conversation back a few minutes, if you don't mind. You can get to the Land of the Dead?"

"One of the lucky ones," Fixxler told her, locating an old fountain pen. "Like I said, it takes a lot of power – barring special circumstances, like your boyfriend accidentally proposing to a very hopeful corpse."

"When Elder Gutknecht sent us up that first time, it didn't seem very complicated," Victor said, frowning. "He just squeezed an egg out of a raven and broke it over our heads."

"Oh, it's not a matter of complicated – it's a matter of simply what you're trying to do," Fixxler told him, waving the pen. "The barrier between life and afterlife is usually pretty strong – living people aren't supposed to go Downstairs, and vice-versa. It takes a lot of energy to allow the 'wrong' person through the veil. Again, you're a special case, but. . . ." His eyes flashed gold again. "No, you don't have enough personal power to cast it on your own."

"What is that?" Alice had to ask. "It makes you look as if you've gas lamps behind your face."

"Signature Sense – it's my special talent," Fixxler explained. "I can tell you how to do it, but – well, it involves lighting a match, then waving it back out after ten seconds and swallowing it."

Victor touched his Adam's apple. "Oh – I don't think I'll try that one, then," he admitted. "Knowing me, I'd choke." He pouted. "I really wanted to see what an aura looked like, though. . . ."

"That is what enchantments are for," Fixxler told him. "I've got a pair of glasses I made once that I managed to permanently enchant with the same spell. . .somewhere. . . ." He grumbled as he looked around the store, twirling his pen. "The problem is, people seem to think a messy shop is more 'magical,' and then you just get used to throwing things anywhere."

"I can help you look for them," Victor instantly offered, getting to his feet. "I'm used to having to rummage for things."

"Yes, the Houndsditch toy pile can be a terrifying ordeal indeed," Alice agreed, standing up as well. "And I'd like a look too, honestly. . .so neither of us have a chance at casting the spell on our own?"

"I'll check behind the counter – Victor, you try the bookshelves up there," he said, gesturing to the little raised stage where lived his Chinese herbs and mystical tomes. "Alice, you check the front window – and no, sorry. You're both fairly magically gifted, but not that much."

Victor frowned as he mounted the tiny flight of steps to the shelves. "What if we combined our power?" he asked. "Is there a way to do that?"

"Sort of – there's spells that let you 'borrow' extra power from a person or a place for a little while," Fixxler confirmed, climbing over the counter. "But even with that, I think you'd still be short. And even if you weren't, there's a good chance you still couldn't use the spell anyway."

"Whyever not?" Alice demanded, feeling through the ribs of the skeleton just in case something had slipped inside. The bones jangled at the intrusion.

"Because, for whatever reason, magic doesn't like it when you drain your lake all in one go." Fixxler leaned on the countertop. "Granted, I don't blame it, it's not a pleasant feeling. . .but yeah, one of the barriers to learning magic is that the upper limit of the power of the spells you can learn is slightly below the upper limit of your own personal power. Draw Upon The Earth's Currents and Draw Upon Another's Currents can both get you around that limitation for a bit, but it only goes so far."

Victor paused in his search. "Ah – is – it isn't p-possible to completely use up your magic permanently, is it?" he asked, rocking to and fro on his heels in a rather Alice-like way.

Fixxler gave him a reassuring smile. "No, don't worry about that. You have to be casting a lot of magic in a very short amount of time to burn out, and even then, it only takes a couple of hours to recover. Nasty couple of hours, though – you feel like some vital part of you is missing."

"I've had enough of that feeling," Alice muttered, glowering at the thorny vine as the wail of a long-dead train echoed in her ears. "Doesn't sound like it's much of a risk, though." She felt around the pot, then moved on to the display of colored bottles. "You said that was one of the barriers. What are the others?"

"Mainly that you can only learn so many spells," Fixxler said, ducking down to hunt through some hidden cabinets. "Oh, so that's where I put that decanter. . . ." He placed it on the counter. "Again, relates to you having only so much magical energy. Once you learn enough that, if you cast them all in rapid succession, you'd burn out, that's it. Any new spells you try, even simple ones, will automatically fail."

"Hmph. I guess we'll have to be very careful what spells we learn," Alice said to Victor.

"And not learn too many of the same ones," Victor nodded. "How many do you think we'll get?"

"Hard to say for sure, but rough estimate – twenty to twenty-five?" Fixxler said, waggling a hand over his head. "Well, twenty to twenty-five for you – nineteen to twenty-four for Alice. Sorry, but a natural talent automatically takes up a slot. The price you pay for a spell you can use anytime without reagents."

"I can live with that. False Flesh is one of the fun ones, at least." Alice examined a bottle. "Are these real potions?"

"Some are – if they're glowing a little, they're real," Fixxler said, eyes peeping above the counter. "Otherwise it's just colored water. Good for effect, and I'm not constantly in the lab making new ones."

"How – oh!" Victor reached back behind a book and extracted a pair of small round glasses with dark lenses. "Are these them?" he asked, slipping them on.

"Let me see," Fixxler asked, standing up straight.

Victor turned to face him. "I don't – OW!"

He snapped his head away, ripping off the glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Victor?" Alice asked, dropping the bottle and hurrying to his side. "What happened?"

"It was like looking at the sun!" Victor hissed, pressing hard on his lids. "I'm still seeing a bit of a glow now."

"Sorry," Fixxler said with a sheepish look. "Should have warned you that the more power you have, the brighter your aura. There's a reason I made those out of dark glass."

"It didn't help much." Victor cautiously blinked open his eyes. "Ow. . . ."

"Try again with Alice," Fixxler encouraged. "She should be just fine to look at."

"That's what people tell me," Alice quipped, making both men blush. She held out her hand. "Here – want me to try first and confirm it's okay to look at most people?"

Victor handed over the glasses. "Just, really, don't look at him," he warned. "It is horribly bright."

Alice heeded his advice, keeping her back firmly to Fixxler as she slipped on the curious spectacles. Most of the world grew dark and smoky. . .but oh yes, out of the corner of her eye she could see a brilliant light emanating from somewhere behind her. Seems he wasn't exaggerating – turning to face our new friend probably would be exactly like looking directly at the sun.

Fortunately, she had a much softer, prettier light to focus her attention on. Victor himself seemed to be in shadow, but his aura was a vivid gold around him, edged with a layer of equally-bright blue-green. Shades of pink and orange and green and purple swirled over his body, tangling with each other before disappearing into the gold. "Oh. . . ." She held out her hand right above his chest, fingers dipping into the play of colors. "That's lovely. And this is what you see, Dr. Fixxler?"

"When I use Signature Sense," Fixxler confirmed. "Nice, isn't it?"

"Very." Alice drew her hand back and examined her own arm. No blue-green perimeter for her, but the bits of dripping rainbow still chased themselves over and through her own golden glow. She admired them for a bit –

Then frowned curiously. While most of the colors were floating about, blending with each other, there was a stripe of green about level with her elbow that was staying stock-still, resisting all invitations from red and yellow and blue to join the fun. She checked Victor's aura – no, all of his were moving. "What do the colors mean?" she asked, starting to turn her head – Fixxler's aura burned at her eyes, and she quickly yanked it back.

"Well, the main one is the 'alive or dead" signifier," Fixxler rattled off. "Gold's for living, blue-green is dead. The ones floating on top are a general sign of health. The brighter those colors and the faster they move, the better you feel. Any stationary stripes show what special talents you have – each spell has a unique color, or so they tell me. If you could look at me, you'd see I've got sort of greenish-gold stripes in my aura."

"Interesting," Alice said, looking at her legs and picking out a few more green stripes around her knees and feet. "So the green ones on me must be for False Flesh."

"Do I have any?" Victor asked hopefully.

Alice shook her head. "I don't see any, anyway."

"Nope – don't take it too hard, though," Fixxler told Victor as his shoulders slumped. "Most people don't have any talents. And most spells don't require anything too hard to obtain for reagents."

"Think of it this way," Alice said, taking off the glasses and handing them back over. "You get to choose all of your spells. I'm stuck with False Flesh whether I like it or not."

Victor smiled. "Given you're still in your Steamdress, I think you do like it." He put the glasses back on, making very sure not to look in Fixxler's direction. His eyes widened as he caught sight of her aura. "Oh wow. . . ." He too reached out a hand, running his fingers through the invisible colors. "Goodness, Alice, it's gorgeous. . . ." He looked down at himself, marveling at his unique glow. "I wish I could see these all the time."

Alice glanced at Fixxler, now again a perfectly ordinary black man. "You're sure?"

Victor took one peek his way, then grimaced and shut his eyes before pulling the glasses back off. "Good point. How could you even see our auras over your own?"

"I'm used to mine," Fixxler said. "If it makes you feel better, I nearly blinded myself the first time I looked at me too." He hopped back over the counter and accepted the glasses from Victor. "Now – I assume there's a reason for all the questions about Slip Through The Veil beyond you wondering how you could get a free ride into the afterlife but not one out of it?"

Victor glanced at Alice, awaiting her confirmation to share. "It's my family, Dr. Fixxler," Alice said, sparing him the trouble. "I – ever since I learned that the afterlife is real, the chance to see them again has been weighing pretty heavily on my mind. Dr. Wilson thinks it's the final loose end I have to tie up before I can be called anything resembling mentally healthy." She fiddled with her skirts. "Victor and I have been wondering for over a month now how you get Downstairs without dying or proposing to a corpse. And then you come along and. . . ." She huffed. "It's just a bit annoying to know there is a spell for it, but to have it be out of our reach."

"Ah. Well then – the way I see it, you have two options," Fixxler said, leaning on the railing. "The first is to wait until the end of October. You see, Slip Through The Veil has a little quirk – on Halloween night, sunset to sunrise, anybody can cast the spell. From what I've read, it's thanks to all of us thinking that spirits roam the Land of the Living in that general time period anyway. The barrier naturally thins thanks to all that belief."

"Really." Alice exchanged an intrigued look with Victor. "It would be a bit of a pain to wait, granted. . .but it would also be something to look forward to. What's option two?"

Fixxler grinned. "You let me take you."

Alice blinked. "You can – do that?"

"Elder Gutknecht did it to me and Emily," Victor told her, eyes bright. "And then to the whole village when we decided to get married properly! You'd really be willing, Dr. Fixxler?"

[loki-subterfuge]

Irked

Title: Irked Author: lokilover9 Chapter: #19 Notes: Movie ~ What Women Want with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt Rating:Teen Twenty minutes after Shandis initial panic, coffee was finally brewing in the kitchen as Nat watched her pace back and forth from the table. “Sit, woman. You're making me dizzy.” “I can't believe Loki left his phone here. He’s to have it with him at all times. And why isn't Clint answering his? Where are they?” “Stop worrying, I'm sure they're together. Why would Loki go out in this storm alone? Clint probably left his phone in the truck. It's a habit. Shandi poured equal amounts of cream and coffee in her mug, then added three spoonfuls of sugar. “I'm Cactus sitting, responsible for him at all times. Couldn't he have left a note or something? What if Tony calls? Oh man.” Nat smirked, as she paced again. “Maybe coffee isn't the best option, for you.” “I'm worried.” “No shit.” Shandi then downed her coffee, went to look out the front windows, returned and paced yet again. “Final warning.” Said Nat. “You've about three seconds to halt, or be tied to something.” “If he thought I was upset last night, that was nothing. You wait, Natskies.” “The spanking paddle might be handy. Unless he runs.” Nats comment fell on deaf ears, then Shandi stopped abruptly. “I should go clean my room, make my bed and shit? Yep. Maybe that’ll help me relax.” She darted upstairs and Nat sipped her coffee. “I’m staying down here.” Another twenty minutes past and she heard Shandi shower quickly, run down the front stairs, grapple with something amidst a closet, run back up and start the Central Vac. Two minutes later, Loki and Clint returned. “I can't believe you convinced me to drive in this. You're a manic, Cactus.” “And you're a whiner.” Loki teased. “How does Kroshka even tolerate such nonsense?” “Bite me and you're now in debt another coconut cake.” “Shall I decorate it with candied nipple clamps?” “Go for it.” Nat suggested as they entered the kitchen. “Hardy har.” Said Clint. “Mind if I use your bathroom, to shower? I need more sleep too.” “Certainly baby cakes and again, thanks for the escort.” Clint started up the stairs. “Maniac!” “He was tanked last nigh, Cactust. How did you get him up so early?” “I threatened to tattoo ‘Porn Bitch,’ on his forehead. When ignored, I handed him a mirror.” Said Loki. “Baby cakes would have sufficed, but good choice.” Nat kept smiling, observing Loki organize what sat upon the island. “Something on your mind?” He asked. “Care to know why Shandi loves those movies, I mentioned?” “I do.” “Both are about men who fall for women, in ways they could never fathom. In the beginning, they mess up, then become determined to make amends.” “I see. I gather Shandi spoke of my deceit?” “Yes and you and I never had this conversation.” Said Nat. “I understand.” “Considering the subject, I convinced her you meant well, but may I offer more friendly advice?” “Of course.” “A beautiful heart, doesn't mean a weak soul, Loki. Disrespect her personal choices and she'll toss you to the curb.” He nodded in acknowledgement. “Duly noted, Kroshka. Anything else?” “Yes. The next time you go anywhere without informing her, remember your phone or consider leaving behind a horse tranquilizer?” “Whatever for?” Nat explained and he laughed. “My bad. As we’re on the subject, what did I miss from that scene in What Women Want, which captivates her?” “When they're dancing in the bedroom?” “Yes.” “Watch it on YouTube, Cactus. You’ll figure it out.” Shandi was toiling away in her room when the vacuum stopped and Nat entered. “I wasn't done with that.” “Yes you are, they're back.” “She flopped onto the bed with her arms stretched out. "Thank heavens.” Nat pulled her up. “Come on drama queen. There's something you need to see.” As they entered the kitchen Shandis mouth fell ajar. “What? He actually did this?” There on the island, sat everything Loki hadn't purchased during their shop, including her two boxes of Fruit Loops. “Yes beautiful. He went out in that storm, to make things right with you.” Nat smirked as Shandi blinked at her, misty eyed. “Are you just going to stand here like a love sick puppy, or go talk to him?” Loki had retreated to the library, closed the door and searched that movie scene on his laptop. It was very evident the love and adoration the male actor portrayed towards the female, as though she meant everything to him. ‘Do you seek such affections, Pet?’ Someone knocked then and he closed the app. “You may enter the God of Mischiefs lair.” Shandi peeked in and smirked. “Is it safe?” “For now.” Loki kidded. She leaned against the doorframe, in momentary silence. ‘Damn him when he looks at me like that.’ “I noticed you went shopping..in the storm. You didn't have to do that. I mean, I could've waited until tomorrow. Regardless, it was very kind. Thank you.” “You're quite welcome, Shandi. I apologize for my deceit.” A warm smile, overtook her. “I accept. Nat and I thought to watch another movie. You're welcome to join us.” Loki recalled Nats fantasy from the previous night, Shandis pleasured response and hesitated. ‘I've only presently escaped trouble. Perhaps I shouldn't lead myself into temptation.’ He cleared his throat. “You ladies enjoy. I've still some research on Shamus's hobbies to do." Two movies later, Clint woke and everyone except Nat, had some drinks. They stayed until late evening, Shandi disappeared for a few minutes, then brought some food from the entertainment room, to help tidy up. Loki noticed the booze had gotten to her and swiftly took action. Shandi returned from a second trip and found the drink she'd left behind, replaced by a water bottle. “Seriously Loki? Yur doin’ this again? Where's my drink?” She politely, asked. “Pardon me. I thought you were done and emptied the remaining contents.” “You should've assed.” ‘Assed? Good thing I didn't.’ “Next time, I'll be sure to.” He changed the subject. “I thought we'd visit Carters Bakery tomorrow, but may I take you someplace first?” “Where?” “It's a surprise.” “K.” She slid her hands into her pockets. “So’s this sorta’ like a..mini date kinda thing?” Loki smirked. “Would you like it to be?” Before she could answer, odd squeaky noises and the washing machine lid rattling, caught her attention. She darted down the hall and Loki followed, just in time to see bubbles overflowing from beneath the lid and her slip on soapy water, leaking out the bottom. She landed on her ass, legs spread on the floor and cursed. “Oh fur fuck sakes.” He burst into laughter, helped to her feet and turned the machine off. “Generous with the detergent, were you?” “The model hasn't a soap dispenser. You gotta pour it on yur clothes.” She lifted the lid and saw nothing beyond the bubbles. “Maybe I was too generous. Still, it must be broken if…” She faltered again and as Loki moved to balance her, she slid into him, grasping at the front of his shirt. Loki smirked and gently placed a hand on her back. “Welcome to my personal space.” ‘Oh lord.’ “Sorry.” “It's alright. I did say welcome.” ‘Stay a while.’ Shandis heart raced as she gazed between his lips and eyes, contemplating a kiss, when an uncomfortable sensation stopped her. “My butt feels soapy an’ wet.” He noted her rapid pulse, the sudden softness in her tone and how her hands spread open on his chest. ‘Please, Pet. Feel away.' “Norns, what a predicament you're in.” “Yeah..an’ now I've a melvin.” “And what pray tell, is a melvin darling?” Shandi slowly backed towards the door, shifting her hips and tugging at the back of her shorts. “It's kinda like..where your panties creep waaay too far into places ya wish they didn't.” Loki smirked. “I see.” “Let me go change, come back an’ clean all this up.” She left and he chuckled under his breath. ‘And risk yourself an injury? I think not.’ Magic fixed the problem and when she didn't return, he found her passed out in bed. ‘Might I assume, lack of sleep caught up with you? What a shame.’ She was sprawled out on her back, naked beneath a robe, with one leg folded and part of her hoo ha exposed. ‘I would've enjoyed watching you clean up in this attire.’ He resolved her impending hangover and licked his lips. ‘Time to occupy myself elsewhere.’ ***** Back at the Tower, Tony had just finished tinkering with one of his suits, when his phone rang and he put it on speaker. “Hey Cactus. Everything alright?” “Everything's fine.” “Oh. Where's Shandi?” “Sleeping.” Silence fell and Tony thought it odd. “Cactus? Are we still in the same dimension?” “We are and I've been thinking.” Tony's eyes closed and fists clenched. ‘If you're backing out of this, I'll call you a taxi for the fucking BiFrost.’ “About?” “Events, since my return.” His eyes opened as Pepper came up beside him and placed a finger to her lips. Loki then spoke of regret for the immense responsibility, Odin had placed upon Tony and apologized for all the hardships his presence, had brought each Avenger. He expressed remorse for being the reason Tony feared for Peppers life, the person he loved most and also expressed gratitude for every minute kindness, they'd shown him. Then he asked a question, Tony least expected. “Has requiring me for this job, weighted your concerns?” “It has.” “Remember my given word in the truck, regarding everything?" Asked Loki. "Yes." "Understand, it was genuine and I intend no malice. If Shamus is involved, I will learn of it and help resolve this problem to the best of my ability. Alright?” Tony was utterly astonished. “Uhhh..well, hey. Alright, Cactus and...thanks for all that other stuff too.” “Your welcome Tin Man. Goodnight.” The call ended and Tony looked at Pepper. “Do you think he's gotten into some spooky broccoli?” “And what would you know of it?” She asked. “Nothing..pshh..I..did that just happen? Can you pinch me?” Pepper obliged and he yelped. “Bully!” She rolled her eyes. “I think he meant it.” “You do?” “Yes. He's changed. A lot, recently. Are you coming to bed?” Tony picked up his phone. “You're asking all sexied up in your pajamas? Why wouldn't I?” They were halfway up the winding staircase, when Peppers bottom lip began quivering as tears filled her eyes. Tony stopped her. “Pepper?” She sobbed then and leaned into his chest. “I'm sorry, Tony.” After they sat for a moment, he lifted her chin. “For what?” Her sobs suddenly worsened. “I was worried because you were so worried..about this mission and..sending Loki and then..what else Obadiah might have done...I..feared adding to it.” Tony’s heart hurt, having never seen her so distraught. “Adding to it? Virginia, what's going on? Talk to me. Whatever it is baby, we’ll get through it.” “That's what it is. A..a baby, Tony. I'm pregnant.” At first his mouth fell open, then he beamed, cupped her cheeks and repeatedly kissed her face. “Ha! Tony Stark is gonna be a father! Well holy shitballs!" Then what she’d said struck and he became serious again. This is what you're sorry for?” “Yes. I haven't missed..a day of my new birth control, but it must've failed. I've known for two weeks, but..couldn't bring myself to tell you.” “Oh Virginia, please don't cry?” He sighed and wiped her tears. “Out of concern for my well being, you withheld this? We're in this relationship together and how selfish of ‘me’ for not grasping your distress. You're the other half of my logic, my serenity and often my sanity. By causing your inability to share such a significant moment in our lives, I've obviously taken that for granted. 'I'm' sorry.’ “That's untrue, Tony. You were stressed, you're human. Hearing Loki brought such relief, I just couldn't hold it anymore." “My point is, you shouldn't have felt required to.” He placed a soft kiss to her lips. "Baby, listen. Now that there's to be three of us, it's imperative you ‘never,’ forget this. I don't give a rats ass what I'm stressed about. If you need me, then come to me and I mean it. Always Virginia. Promise?" She nodded. "Promise. I love you, Tony." "And I you. How far along are we anyway?" "Eight weeks." "Whaaat? Who else knows?" "I'd never tell anyone, before you." "Perfect. To keep you safer, we only inform your family and close friends. Then when you get bigger, I'll buy you a porta potty for the limo.” “Tony!” He chuckled and scooped her into his arms. “Two months means a lot of celebrating we're behind on. Let's play catch up. Jarvis, please bring some champagne and whipped cream to our room?” “Whipped cream?” Asked Pepper. “I'm not sayin’ what that's for. You'll have to wait.” “I beg your pardon, Sir?” “I should fire him for not having legs.” Minutes later, Tony laid Pepper on their bed and was about to kiss her. “What is ‘whipped cream,’ Sir?” “Yep. He's definitely fired.” Pepper smiled. “Privacy please, Jarvis?” Tony kissed beneath her lobe. “Now that we're alone, Iron Man has something special just for you.”

[askpokemoncrossover]

Dead Man’s Nightmare

A few hours later after Saisei’s discussion with umbra at the cafe:

I was at the door to my bedroom after a long day. I finally decided it was time for me to evolve into a lucario for good in the upcoming fight in three days time, because I knew that one day, I couldn't rely on Suisei's power forever. After I entered my room, I opened my drawer from the dresser and took out a rare candy that I’ve been saving for some time. I threw away the wrapping before I put the hard candy into my mouth and I chewed it for a good thirty seconds before swallowing it. I immediately felt getting stronger and the picture of a bone-like staff appeared in my head, clear as day: telling me that I've learned Bone-rush. One last test to make sure that I permanently evolved: I took off my comet shard glove, and I didn't shrink back to a riolu... the deed is done. As I held the comet glove in my hand, a question I never asked before popped into my head: If Suisei was able to obtain more power from the comet, Sentinel… could she have a physical body of her own? Then again… neither of us knows where the crash site is, and i doubt we’ll be going there anytime soon. I smiled faintly before I set the glove on the small table next to my bed and I laid down on it as the sun’s last rays disappeared from my window, letting me know it’s time to go to sleep. 

Saisei’s permanently a lucario and learned Bone Rush!

As I slept, I could’ve sworn I felt something dripping on my cheek before I saw myself in an unfamiliar city. There was no sun or moon to light up the sky. Instead, a lighthouse that was towering above the many skyscrapers in the city… The rays of light it was creating was as long as an airport runway. This tower must be the best replacement for a genuine source of light. I was about to question why I was brought here before I started to hear the roars of a dragon as well as the sound of metal clashing on top of the tower, so I moved quickly and carefully towards the source. When I was at the base of the tower, an explosion had occurred. It was so powerful that the very ground below trembled. I don’t know what was going on, but I better find out. I pressed the button on the side of the tower and an elevator opened up and I hurriedly went inside and pressed the top-floor button. As the elevator door closed, the sounds of battle were getting louder… I closed my eyes and I felt two auras are in conflict with two others. The elevator dinged, letting me know that I made it to the top. when the door opened another tremendous explosion occurred and I felt one of the auras disappeared, meaning that someone died or left the battlefield. 

Realizing that there was not much time, I went up the last set of stairs at a rapid pace, when i was at the top… i was met with a nasty scene: a black-haired lucario in armor was carrying the body of a bloodied Gardevoir in his arms, on the far side i saw a giant white lion escaping through a portal and in the middle of the area, on the ground was a tired creature i never thought i would see again: it’s body appears to be constructed out of black crystalline material; its disproportionately large arms have three claws jutting out of them, as well as a single large whitish crystal protruding backward from each arm. Its small legs bend backward like a bird's and have three toes each. A single wing grows out of each of its shoulders, which resembles a hook. The sides of its head and the top of its tail are covered in spikes, and its face possesses a collection of multicolored shapes. 

I remember now, this monster… was the one who took my c̶̙̀́ó̸̞ú̷͈͋s̴̹͊ͅi̴̼͓͐n̷͔̜̈, and I’m willing to pay him back for it. I lunged forward and threw a punch at him, but I went through him like he was a cloud or something. That’s when I realized that this was a dream as I landed on the edge of the tower. “Don’t cry… It’s... finally over…” I heard a woman’s voice behind me and I turned around to see the gardevoir’s hand touching the side of the Lucario’s tearful face before her arm and body went limp… that’s when I saw it: She had a hole in her chest right were her fin-like horn used to be and now she’s dead in the arms of her comrade. ”Erika!? Don’t leave me, Erika! Our child needs you! ERIKA!!” The lucario yelled and clutched the body of the psychic type tight in his arms. 

Knowing that I couldn't help, I stood and watched as the Lucario’s enemy was back in the air. “Damn… you… I was about to reclaim my position as this world’s guiding light and you stole it from me!!!” The black prism yelled and he had his arm outstretched forming a sphere of yellow light, The armored lucario put his head down so i couldn’t see his face, but i heard a distorted voice coming from him: “No… you stole my comrades, our sun and now my wife... Don’t you dare try to be the victim here!!”  The warrior said and I felt a dark power coming out of him. “Do you really believe that? Solego, Lunala… either of them generates the same light that i once had. Me fusing with their body and minds are necessary for me to regain my true form and guide this world once more… Everything I’ve done so far, I've done for the people below us who lived for centuries without a sun and moon of their own. I’m simply...granting their wish as their ‘blinding one’.”

 “Granting their wish, you say? ...You think you’re a god to them?!” The armored lucario yelled, with their head still down, the dark aura shrouding him is still growing…“Yes, don’t take this personal Alexander, the ‘aura knight’… but: In order for my world to live... your’s must die.” When the prism finished his sentence, he fired the sphere at the knight. Before the attack connected however, Alexander’s head lifted up and he yelled so loudly, it created a dark shock-wave that snuffed out the sphere of light and blew me off the tower! I woke up in cold sweat, but I couldn't move my body. That's when I realized that I was bound to my bed thanks to chains made out of a dark, shadowy aura that felt familiar...

 “A ‘Knight of Sentinel’ she calls you, huh? Tell me...” I turned my head to the source of this new voice to see the same knight from my dream, but his appearance had drastically changed: his armor was gone and his arms were wrapped around by the same chains that bound me to my bed. His shoulders  were emitting a black, shadowy trail in the moonlight and he had white hair, the white of his eyes were black and he was shedding tears of blood, that’s when I realized it: what I felt on my cheek earlier… was his blood. “How does it feel... to view the most traumatic events of a dead man?” He asked me and I opened my mouth to scream before he put his hand over it and put a finger on his mouth, telling me to be quiet. “A portion of my tale has been told, kid... Before I leave, a warning: If your nosy goddess decides to enter the mind of my new host again like she tried at the cafe… the rest will be difficult to endure.” He told me before his body and chains disappeared like a gas created from liquid being rapidly evaporated, leaving me with many questions and thoughts of dread… only one person has the answers now. “Umbra… i expect you to answer my questions tomorrow…” I said before I struggled to fall back asleep again, which I didn't in fear of having more nightmares like the one I recently had....

[thephotopitmagazine]

On November 9, 2014 before I started photographing and reviewing concerts, I attended a show at House of Blues Orlando I would never forget. One of my favorite bands, Sevendust, was performing an acoustic show of their music. Getting to hear songs I love in a stripped-down format was incredible. And seeing them in this very intimate format was something I would never forget. Skip ahead to Winter 2019 where I remember commenting on a post on the Sevendust Facebook page that I wished they’d do another acoustic show. Literally days after that, the band announced their Acoustic Xmas shows with three dates with one of them being at House of Blues Orlando, a place the band considers a second home for performances. There was no way I was going to miss this show and was blessed to be able to cover it for The Photo Pit. It was a show I will truly never forget.

The entire show was acoustic from all the bands starting off with Stitched Up Heart. Formed in 2010 the rock band based out of Los Angeles, CA had a number of lineup changes during their first few years. They released 3 EPs before finally settling in on their lineup and sound they wanted to present. In 2015 the band was signed to Another Century record label and released their single “Finally Free” which hit the Top 20 on the Active Rock Radio Charts. Two more singles “Monster” and “Event Horizon” were released before the release of their debut album Never Alone in 2016. The band will be releasing their second album Darkness on March 13, 2020. Stitched Up Heart is Alecia “Mixi” Demner (vocals), James Decker (drums), Merritt Goodwin (guitar), and Randy Mathias (bass).

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The crowd cheered as the band took the stage. Alecia is no stranger to Orlando as she was born and raised here before moving out to Los Angeles. She explained they were excited to have this opportunity to strip down their songs and perform them acoustically for the crowd. James also explained he was performing on keyboards as his drumset was lost. They opened with “This Skin” and “Warrior” from their upcoming album Darkness. This was definitely a unique experience for fans of the band, instead of hearing hard rocking tunes to discover a chilling and amazing performance acoustically. Alecia pointed out her father was in the crowd that night and suggested to fans to buy him a drink. Alecia‘s vocal performance during the show was unreal. She has a strong voice with a beautiful falsetto. James did a great job replacing his drums for a keyboard during this set (that he said he learned in under a week!). Merritt and Randy did awesome giving these hard rock songs the acoustic vibe, playing them beautifully. The cool surprise of the evening was hearing them perform the cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”. After seeing this unique performance, I absolutely need to see them rocking out in their full setup. Stitched Up Heart I’m sure will be on the road again soon and if they come near you, don’t miss them! You can find their music and merch at their website HERE.

Deepfall was next to the stage. I recognized the band’s name from a press release for Alter Bridge that Deepfall would be joining them on the second leg of the U.S. Walk The Sky tour. And fans will be in for a great time with this band. Hailing from Grand Rapids, MI, Deepfall is hard rock, in your face, music. The band formed in 2015 and all the members have bonded together through their music community and now within Deepfall. They currently have one CD Broken released and I sense we’ll see more from them soon. Deepfall is Rich Hopkins (vocals), Anthony Battista (guitar), Max Carrillo (guitar), Nick Gray (drums), Taylor Brandt (bass), and Tim King (keyboards/management).

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The crowd cheered for them when they hit the stage, but I could sense Deepfall was the unknown factor of this show. That didn’t last long when they started with a song titled “I’m Sick”. Even though this was acoustic, the song absolutely kicked ass with the hard-hitting drums from Nick and ripping guitar riffs from Anthony and Max. The crowd immediately recognized this band’s talent and was rocking along with the band. I actually loved how this song changes pace mid-way through the song showing some excellent song and music writing. They followed that with “Monster” that started headbanging bass riffs from Taylor. And what an amazing rock song it was. I was truly impressed with what I was hearing. For an acoustic show, instead of slowing it down, the band put the pedal down and rocked out hard. Deepfall also decided to pull out their own cover performance of one of the most well-known Journey songs in “Separate Ways”. Tim‘s keyboards finally got to shine during this song, though he seemed content being out of the spotlight. Rich‘s vocals need to be discussed. I could tell he wanted to hold back because this was an acoustic show. But, he let his instinct take over and went full out belting lyrics, pulling them back when necessary, and then letting loose again. This man’s vocals for rock are perfect. With a frontman that has killer pipes and a musical accouterment of talented players, Deepfall is a band that will elevate in the rock scene. The fans absolutely loved them and I look forward to seeing them come back to Orlando. You can find their music and merch HERE. Their setlist from that evening was:

I’m Sick

Monster

Ghost

Separate Ways

Cancer

Wasted

M.F.K.S. (Voice of the Broken)

Before they came to the stage, WJRR‘s Supa Dave came up to announce the band as they were playing under the banner of the Blizzard of Rock. Soon enough the chants of “Sevendust! Sevendust! Sevendust!” started up to urge the band to come to the stage. Sevendust the metal band from Atlanta, GA formed back in 1994 under a few different names before this one. In 1997 the band releases their self-titled album and it immediately took flight. With singles like “Black” and “Bitch” there was no doubt Sevendust was running headlong for success. The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for 16 weeks and was certified as Gold. Their next album Home released in 1999 had “Denial” as the lead single and the album peaked at #19 on the Billboard 200. Over the next 22 years the band released a total of 12 studio albums, with the last one All I See Is War released in 2018, and 1 live album, and millions of fans who love and support them. Sevendust is Lajon Witherspoon (vocals), Clint Lowery (lead guitar), John Connolly (rhythm guitar), Vince Hornsby (bass), and Morgan Rose (drums).

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When they finally hit the stage, the crowd went wild and the band appeared truly humbled by all the love. Much like Deepfall‘s performance, Sevendust wasn’t holding back and went full speed opening up with “Trust”. I remembered back in 2014 how much I loved that first acoustic show and to be at this show was definitely a dream come true. Sevendust was rocking House of Blues Orlando and the crowd was rocking back with them word for word. They followed up with “Denial” and before moving on Lajon stopped to tell a story to the crowd. It’s well known that Morgan Rose was recently hospitalized and had a surgery that questioned whether they would even perform the acoustic shows. Lajon explained how he received a group text that Morgan was in the hospital and the band needed to make a decision as to whether or not they go on tour with their brothers in Alter Bridge to the UK. He explained how the only thing he was thinking of was his brother in music was in the hospital and only Morgan‘s returned to health mattered. They decided they would not leave any Sevendust member behind and canceled the UK tour. And how pleased they were that Morgan was able to return to the stage with them and the crowd’s outpouring of love and adoration for him was unreal. Morgan looked truly overwhelmed with the response. Lajon also pointed out his brothers in Alter Bridge Mark Tremonti and Scott Phillips were in the balcony area with their families watching the show.

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Sevendust went on to do some truly great songs that evening including “Xmas Day”, which I feel was built for acoustic, “Rumble Fish”, “Crucified”, and “Prayer”. In between one fan yelled out for them to play “Face to Face” to which they did an impromptu partial version, which actually was pretty damn good! Once again, this was a very intimate evening of Sevendust songs that were played with vigor, passion, and pure love of performing for the fans. I’ve listened to these songs over those past 22 years and each time I hear them live they sound better and better. There was lots of storytelling involved including how Lajon ran into his trailer to save his clothes and other things at Earthday Birthday 24 when another trailer caught fire. Clint took over lead vocals for their cover of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails that Johnny Cash recovered, which was spectacular as usual. Lajon reminded the fans that Clint has his own solo album God Bless The Regenades that will release on January 31, 2020. They, of course, played the other song built for acoustic performances, “Angel’s Son”. Lajon told the story of Sevendust being asked to write a song for a dedication album to James Lynn Strait the lead singer of Snot who died in a car accident in 1998. John wrote the music and Lajon only had one lyric written down for the song. He was a nervous wreck walking into the studio with nothing down, but somehow words just poured out the moment the music started and the song was born. And it was a beautiful performance to close out their set. They came out to encore “Black” the song that started it all for the band. Lajon told the fans they were taking a few months off after the acoustic shows but when they come back there will be a new Sevendust album coming. You can find their music and merchandise HERE. Their setlist that night was:

Trust

Denial

Gone

Xmas Day

Skeleton Song

Rumble Fish

Crucified

Disgrace

Prayer

Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover)

Got a Feeling

Angel’s Son

Gone (encore)

Overall, I couldn’t have wished for a better show from all three bands. Acoustic performances by Sevendust are just spectacular and Deepfall and Stitched Up Heart did a great job as well. I’m looking forward to see all three bands again, but in particular ready to hear some new Sevendust in 2020!

From The Pit To The Crowd: Sevendust with Deepfall and Stitched Up Heart – House of Blues Orlando – Lake Buena Vista FL – December 29, 2019 On November 9, 2014 before I started photographing and reviewing concerts, I attended a show at 

[drink-n-watch]

Castling is a special type of chess move. When castling, you simultaneously move your king and one of your rooks. The king moves two squares towards a rook, and that rook moves to the square on the other side of the king.

Have you guys been looking forward to our next Promised Neverland discussion? I know I have. Talking things over with Crow is always really fun and interesting. On top of that, this series is certainly generous with the potential material. I feel like we go through almost an entire series’ worth of topics with each episode. For once, that’s not a bad thing.

this was quite the episode!

If you remember, ad I’m sure you do, last episode ended on an epic cliffhanger with Norman pointing to Ray as the “traitor”. An of course, Norma’s always right. I feel like my brain still refused to accept it for a good minute. It’s like the show has already conditioned me to refuse the simplest explanation even if in retrospect the narrative hasn’t exactly done twists so much as simply shocks. Situations are often unexpected but not because we were lead to believe something else, simply because this particular fictional universe is very high drama.

That distinction — shocks versus twists — might be this show’s distinguishing characteristic! Well, that and dynamic and flawed protagonists as well as dangerously intelligent and dangerously unpredictable villains! Oh, this is Crow — I’m in bold this week.

That opening scene with the clock ticking and rapid succession jumps between the two characters was a fun, tension adding, directorial trick. Cheap but effective. In general, I feel the direction took a lot more risks this episode and I liked it. Did you?

Evaluating direction isn’t my strength, but to the extent I understand it, I think you’re right. It’s like the show’s gaining confidence in its voice. There were some relatively straight forward shots, like closeups of Norman and Ray as they realized something (I’m still not sure exactly what!). There was a shot of Ray, leaving the room after the first scene, framed by the doorway at the top of the stairs, as if the camera were on a landing between the first and second floors. It was simple, elegant, and it capture his loneliness that Emma was able to articulate later on.

it was a very deliberately paced and framed episode

The first half of the episode was basically one long expo dump with Norman and Ray having this almost quippy, slightly antagonistic chat in the room. I see your Buffy parallels here. Although the conversation was much more stern in tone, there was something in the quickfire delivery and unspoken implications that was very reminiscent of Buffy dialogue.

Now, if we can just get Anya to sing her song about bunnies being the villains… I think Gilda could pull it off! But now I’m sad thinking about Conny’s bunny, which makes me remember Conny…

Also, I was on the edge of my seat. I was watching two (only two) familiar characters talk to each other in a closed bedroom with nothing else at all going on, and I was on the edge of my seat. This is when you know you got your exposition right!

I think this proves your point about direction. I felt breathless during this scene, too, as if either Ray or Norman might do anything — explode into violence, transfer into an alien — anything! Good dialogue, well delivered, with effective pacing. That’s a heavy load for exposition to carry!

tell me more! 

I have to say, Ray may be an informant, but can we really call him a traitor when he’s been doing this for 6 years? He’s gathering intel as best he can to formulate an escape plan. The boy’s no hero, but he’s merely trying to survive.

Also, if I remember correctly, they’re all 11. Which would mean that Ray found out the truth (that they were all destined to be butchered) and was trying to navigate this dangerous world all alone since he was 5 years old. Somehow, it’s difficult for me to blame a five year old in this situation.

I might have to quibble with “the boy’s no hero.” Fighting alone, well behind enemy lines, without a break, without assistance, from the time he was five? That’s why I adored Emma’s reaction…

The conversation leaves with vague results. Ray is still adamant about not destroying their chances by trying to do too much. Norman agrees in principle but is morally and mostly emotionally torn at the idea of going against Emma’s wishes. And an unsteady truce is formed.

What did you think of Ray’s grudging disgusted look and Norman’s attempt to hold back laughter? I didn’t know what to make of that…

it fascinated me

You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. If anything, this turn of events makes me more likely to trust Ray than before. Of course I have this super weird hang up about not trusting Norman. It may be the white hair.

Right at the end of this extended opening arc, it seems that both Norman and Ray realized something pretty big. It sort of bugs me that these little kids are so much smarter than I am but I’ve learned to accept it. I really wish they would have told us what Norman figured out though. It seemed big!

I’m listening to Neil Gaiman narrate The Ocean at the End of the Pond. (great book) I’ve come to accept that when it comes to a lot of topics, kids are smarter than me! Yeah, Norman’s laugh put me on edge, too. I’m beginning to suspect that we’re only watching the outer edge of the crazy — or maybe a meta representation of it…

Ray’s interaction with Mom was one of the best scenes so far. Mom is a formidable foe but because of the construct of the story and the necessity to keep up the pretense of unity, we have not seen her actually clash with anyone except Krone and let’s face it, at the time Krone was hardly even worthy of the title of opponent. Mom and a forcibly relaxed Ray made for a much more interesting back and forth. I look forward to seeing more mind games.

Watching that scene, I had to wonder: which one of them really has the upper hand? Ray mentioned that Mom only gave him older models of things. What if they weren’t representative at all? The show has me so paranoid that I wonder if Mom’s put the pieces in place so their escape attempt is actually part of their shipment protocol! Kinda like a Hunger Games sorta thing…

it makes me captivated!

We finally got to see that Norman is in fact human and that the situation is getting to him. That nightmare was just great. It was also a nice, visually interesting sequence that put the stakes into perspective for the audience. It was a bit on the nose (a lot of the directing is unsubtle in the series), but I don’t mind that too much when the storyline has a lot going on.

I just needed to throw in a pic

The episode then cleaned up the intel by bringing Emma into the loop. I’ve said this before but Emma is not exactly as straightforward as she plays it. Of course she immediately forgives Ray, of course she gives this compelling and heartstring tugging speech about him no longer being alone. But she let her mask slip for a split second there and we saw it.

She might be the most intelligent one there.

You saw it too, right Crow? That moment when Emma realized that Ray had probably at some point sacrificed members of her precious family, and willfully decided to brush the realization aside and ignore everything it implied. The second when her mind was telling her that if he’s capable of throwing the kids to the wolves once, he could do it again, and she chose to take the risk but pretended not to understand it.

I know you loved the scene between Ray and Mom, but this was my favorite scene in the episode. You could just see her mind connect the dots — and I think she connected more than she spoke of. She has this gestalt perspective that lets her assemble the big picture with only tiny disjointed parts.

I think you hit the nail on the head — she knows who Ray is. She knows how he thinks. She’ll go along for now, but she’s on guard. What more? She’s confident she can make it work.

what’s with that face?

Finally we looped Don and Gilda back into the action. As the other two oldest kids in the place, they have the greatest odds of survival, but I’m not so sure the have the nerves required. This might be where Norman’s (somewhat kind) lie may really cost them dearly.

By not telling Don and Gilda that Conny is already dead but still conveying the great danger everyone is in, they have effectively put a ticking clock on everything and are encouraging Don and Gilda into action.

Talk about being damned if you do and damned if you don’t…

I’ve heard some fas say this exact ting (not many though)

Basically, Gilda and Emma have been observing Mom (enemy recon) and have realized that she disappears somewhere at the same time every evening. Ray comes to the natural assumption that she must be checking in with however she reports to.

Moreover, a discrepancy in the dimensions of the rooms and hallway has lead Emma to conclude the whereabouts of a secret room next to Mom’s bedroom. Naturally, this seems like a place that should be investigated but the kids want to play it slow. Not take any more unnecessary risks at this time.

Not all the kids that is. Determined to save Conny, Don storms off to immediately find this secret room while Mom is away. After some prodding, he and Gilda do manage to discover a decoy bookcase with a locked door behind it.

Their hearts were in the right place. Their minds, though? Let’s just say as bright as both of them are, they don’t hold a candle to Emma, Norman, or Ray. I just hope they don’t have to pay the ultimate price for their mistake!

this isn’t ominous at all…

As usual with this series, I had not realized that this was the end of the episode. Well not this of course. Before that someone had to be slowly opening the door to Mom’s room in time to catch them both red handed and potentially doomed. And you thought last week (or every single week so far) was a cliffhanger!

That’s how I guessed it was over despite it seeming like 10 minutes. I was like, “Dang, that’d make a good cliffhanger… d’oh!”

Also, no Krone at all this week?

She’s still sulking, and it takes time to stitch her doll back together! Interesting point, too, how Ray says mom brought Krone in to watch over him for failing to keep Emma and Norman away from the gate…

So this is it for this week. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can’t wait for next week. Please feel free to catch up on our past episode reviews in the meantime:

The Promised Neverland Episode 1 – 45,000,000$

The Promised Neverland Episode 2: 121045

The Promised Neverland Episode 3: 181045

The Promised Neverland Episode 4: 291045

and of course – I got a few more caps for you guys!

The Promised Neverland Episode 5 –Castling Castling is a special type of chess move. When castling, you simultaneously move your king and one of your rooks.